Things are starting to get real

I'm still sort of fascinated by the fact we're living through something the like of which hasn't been experienced since 1919, when influenza swept around the world.  However, the whole lockdown procedure became real after our grandson who, with his wife, lives just a few yards away, messaged me to say he had a sore throat and wouldn't be coming over yesterday evening.  Very few days pass that the grandson doesn't come over when he gets home from work.  On weekends, he and Cliff work on projects in the shop, which is about the only thing that gets Cliff out of the house in the winter.  While we intend to keep to ourselves, I just hadn't considered Arick as separate from us, which is really stupid, knowing he goes to and from work every day.  Then there were a couple of things we needed yesterday, and since we needed to go to the bank for our monthly cash, we went into the little small-town store and found everything we were looking for except for potatoes.  So we were inside a store around people for a few minutes, far closer together than we should have been.  I'll have to suck it up and have the kids pick stuff up for us, I guess. 

A couple of months ago, I changed up my morning routine just a little.  It occurred to me that since I'm not really a touchy-feely person, and Cliff and I don't go to bed or wake up at the same time.  I began making a concentrated effort to get back in bed every morning at seven o'clock, for as long as either or both of us wanted to stay there.  We talk, we joke, we snuggle.  I remember how I used to tell co-workers, "Cliff and I have some of our biggest laughs in the bedroom."  Cliff was always worried someone might take that statement wrong (ha), but it's true.  We had our funniest conversations in bed (conversations you can't share on Facebook), and as the kids were growing up, we had our most serious discussions in bed, the ones you didn't want the kids to hear.  Let's just say our revival of snuggling and conversing has been very pleasant.  Sure, we are together all day, every day.  We converse often.  But laying in bed, there's no computer requiring our attention and we are in our own safe little world.  I kicked the iPad and phone out of the bedroom years ago anyhow.  I know some people are going to have some laughs at this paragraph while trying to read between the lines... perverts!!!

I'm having quite an experience taking the latest stomach remedy.  I started out taking Omeprazole a couple years ago when no over-the-counter meds were helping the acid reflex.  After awhile, one Omeprazole didn't work any more; I was instructed to take two every morning, 30 minutes before breakfast, the same way I'd been taking a single pill.  It wasn't long before that stopped working for me, and the nurse said, "There's one more thing we can try."

So I'm taking Sucralfate, 1 gm.  I honestly didn't expect results from it, since nothing else was working.  Besides, it's mainly to heal ulcers, never meant to be taken longer than four to six weeks; I don't have an ulcer.  The nurse said to keep taking the two omeprazole, also.  However, the burning ceased with the new pill, so I cut those down to one a day.  Still feeling pretty good for a change, three days ago I decided not to take it at all, only the sucralfate.  So far, so good.  I'm getting pretty close to the bottom of this container, then I have one refill to get.  I sure hope it works out for me.  Meanwhile, my life is now run by the clock and these pills.  

I switched from coffee to tea; I think coffee may have been part of the problem.  The hardest part of the medication is keeping up with the timing on four pills daily:  They must be taken at least an hour before a meal or two hours after, on an empty stomach.  I never realized how many small bites of things I eat between meals on a daily basis.  I taste things when I cook, too.  That's how I know if everything is seasoned right.  So I've taken to getting a small bite in my mouth, then spitting it out if the time isn't right for eating.  I carefully stop eating by 6:30 at night so I can take my bedtime pill two hours after eating... so I'll have an "empty stomach".  I get up anywhere from 3 to 4:30 AM, but can't eat for two hours... make that 4 hours on days I take omeprazole, because any anti-acid must be taken 2 hours after the sucralfate, but must be taken before I eat!  

Well, I've done pretty well with it, all things considered.  I guess clock-watching is a way to occupy myself, sequestered with Cliff as I am.  I do have a glimmer of hope that maybe this stuff is going to eliminate my stomach problem.  I'll gladly leave coffee alone for the rest of my life if my belly isn't on fire all the time.  I'm not taking pills so I can drink coffee; I just don't want to hurt, and I'll happily give up anything that is making me hurt.

And today, I feel good.  Thank God for medicine that works (keeping my fingers crossed).